Artistic director of "Helikon-Opera" entered the age of strength

Tchaikovsky wrote The Queen of Spades at the age of 50, Verdi - The Force of Fate, Puccini - his Triptych, Mozart ... did not live at all. And Dmitry Bertman is happy that with all of them he leads a good, although sometimes difficult friendship. He has the opportunity to come to his theater, which he had to endure and defend, he is proud that Helikon is known not only for its integral aesthetic platform, but also for the atmosphere of a family theater.

With Galina Vishnevskaya. Photo: gorproject.ru

“I constantly argue with Rimsky-Korsakov”

- Here you go into the theater - what is the first thought that arises? What are you catching yourself on?

Oh, when I enter, I still don’t believe that all this is not a dream, that we have found a historical stage, and I enjoy the beauty of our building, the talent of the troupe and - yes, I understand that I am the most happy man in the world.

- Do you have a favorite place?

Everything you love: dressing rooms, classes, up to the ventilation shafts - this is also a bewitching sight. We have two. One - on the "minus first" floor, the other - on the fourth. These mines are like scenery for the play "Lady Macbeth Mtsensk district". And my favorite place is the exit to the roof, where a stunning view of Moscow opens - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the Kremlin, the high-rise building on Vosstaniya Square. This is such a treasured place where you can come with close friends, meditate there, because from above all life situations are seen differently. And under the stage there is a unique space, where all the machinery stands - a whole factory ... I go there every day.

- The reader will ask: what do you do there every day?

But how? In order to use machinery, one must know it well, so it is advisable to visit it more often.

- What about a specially trained person?

I myself have to understand everything in order to speak the same language with specialists. This is how the theater was built: at first I did not understand anything about construction, but then I began to live at this construction site, I began to recognize each builder, engineer by face and by name.

- And where do you stand in the hall at the time of the rehearsal?

The auditorium is the very, very finale of the work, this is already a moment of control, and before that I run and run, I rehearse in the classroom in chambers, because the staged mise-en-scene is already the result ...

- So you do not have the opportunity to communicate with the already deceased composer, but do you have such a need?

Why don't I have the opportunity? First, I must delve into all the nuances of his biography and attitude, know his time, everything that surrounded him, literally hourly.

- Hourly?

Certainly. And when I already know all this, then only then do I have the right to ask the composer some questions.

- How?

I'm going to the cemetery, for example. I love the Alexander Nevsky Lavra very much - there are Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov; I come to visit them with flowers. I go to the Vienna cemetery to see the great ones. In Moscow - on Novodevichy. Necessarily. There you can concentrate, think, even say something. All this is an intimate process.

- Does it happen that there is no answer - contact is not established?

Mmm... Usually contact is established, but situations are different. I know that I have good relations with Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Shostakovich, but there are disputes with Rimsky-Korsakov. But still I try to somehow agree with him.

- So he is a prickly man?

Well... he and I think differently. Paradoxically funny situations occur: I arrive - bang, repair of the monument, it is full! And then I put flowers under the boards for Rimsky-Korsakov. He sometimes takes offense at me for banknotes.

- For cut out places in the work?

Yes. Well, you have to! And then I go to him and explain why I do it. And he - sometimes - opens up, you know, the sun comes out ... And sometimes I understand that he hears what I say to him, but still does not agree.

- And how many people do you have to cut?

Happens. But at the same time, everything is fine with Tchaikovsky, he gives me this opportunity with joy. With Rubinstein, at first he was on “you”, then he switched to “you”. Now we are friends.

- That is, they began to forgive banknotes? Like, what to do, the digital age ...

They forgive if the cuts are made motivated, that is, for the concentration of dramaturgy, in order for the work to become successful - and in their time, by the way, it could not have any success.

- And how to communicate with those who cannot be met in person at the cemetery? Here's Verdi...

Yes, what are you! We communicate very well with Verdi, it is easy with him - he is very theatrical, he is essentially a director, that is, a colleague. Verdi is a master, a teacher...

- That is, he will not say that music is primary, and even if you kill yourself.

No, I myself say that music is primary. The question is different: what needs to be done for the success of the performance? And they need success too.

- Well, yes, so that they say: Dima, 50% of your applause is for us.

I think 99% of the applause is for them. No, really. This is not self-criticism or coquetry. After all, even if the performance is staged terribly and ugly, the audience will still clap, because when Violetta dies in La Traviata, and the violin starts to sound, the audience will still cry, regardless of the director. “Music will take everything out,” said Boris Pokrovsky. And many people use it. Even those who do not know the profession of opera directing. This is especially true for other dramatic directors who come to the opera field, who think only about their concept, and let the choir sing for themselves, and let the musicians play for themselves somehow, and the music justifies them in the end.

Luxurious hall "Stravinsky" in "Helikon".

“When I go on stage, they will accuse me of corruption!”

- Did you have a desire to stay on stage as an actor?

I have had several cases in my life, but I do not want them to repeat. For example, when I was still studying at GITIS, I staged Tchaikovsky's Iolanta at the amateur theater of the House of Physicians. Everyone sang there - from folk artists to students and just amateurs. And then one of my classmates did not come to the small role of Bertrand, the gatekeeper of the royal castle. What to do? And I had to put on the makeup of Bertrand and sing this role for the whole performance to save the situation. But this is stress, and I probably sang terribly, so ... no, don’t ... Or I’ll go on stage - and they will sew on a “corruption component” that I went out specifically to earn extra money. In light of all recent events...

All these corruption scandals in the theater - if from a bird's eye view - this is the purgatory that needs to be passed during the country's transition from socialism to capitalism?

Oh I do not know. I - if according to the Stanislavsky system - do not know "what to steal" and "where to steal." Here I will ask myself the goal: I need to steal. Fine. But immediately the questions are: what and where, because the opera houses barely make ends meet every month, this money that we receive is very small for our industry. And we, as an institution, earn little money, because tickets are cheap compared to European prices. It is impossible to increase the price of tickets - so we immediately cut off the viewer. So I don’t know where to get this extra money, and most importantly, how to do it, when all financial activity goes through an electronic system in the “cloud” and both the Treasury and the Department simultaneously monitor each operation of the theater, many structures see the passage of documents. Yes, plus every time we hand over the balance, checks, reports!

- That is, if you want to steal a million or two - nothing will work?

Of course it won't. To write out a fee, you must first approve the estimate in the Department of Culture, and then coordinate it. And any transaction, each transfer of money goes through electronic circulation, it’s not even a piece of paper, you can’t do anything retroactively and you can’t enter anything.

- It is often said that even in creative people the material factor wins today...

I don’t feel it at all either in myself or in my artists. That's why I'm happy: everything around is made not by money, but by theater - Theater! On the contrary, I have a feeling of pity that the work of artists is not paid to the extent that it could be appreciated. After all, the work of an opera artist is very difficult, associated with many human factors. First, you need to be born with a voice. And the voice is that divine gift that the artist must work out all his life. Because if this gift is not worked out, then it is taken by God in exactly the same way as it was given. And any flu, poisoning, stress, conflict, the wrong lesson with a teacher, a long flight, a conductor's shout, an extra performance that the singer sang to help out the theater can take it away.

- Did you remember cases when singers lost their voice?

Of course there were. When the theater was just beginning, we still had few singers, there were no duplicating casts, and tickets were sold, we had to sing, and the singer performed the most difficult part for four days in a row. And the device could not stand it. And it's irreversible. Such are the sins on me. And not because I forced, it was a mutual desire, because the artist is greedy for the stage, on the contrary, he has to be saved and protected from such exploits.

- So how do you see people in general - faces or voices?

- But there are tricks? You talk on the phone - one person, you meet - another completely.

It happened once. From Montserrat Caballe. I listened to her from childhood, knew the recordings, saw her in performances and imagined her as a person in a completely different way until I started working with her. It was the biggest scam. And the only one.

- And your two other great female friends - Vishnevskaya and Obraztsova - were they in full agreement with them?

Absolutely. The most precise. People with direct character. Galina Vishnevskaya chose Obraztsova and at first took care of her because they are very similar: both blockade survivors, both from St. Petersburg, very emotional, sensual, erotic. And they are both ... how to find the exact word ... both "wrong."

- In the correct sense "wrong"?

Yes. They are the exception. That is what great art is about. Because when everything is right, there is no art. And I continue to communicate with them, of course. But I miss feedback. As Mandelstam wrote, paraphrasing: I still have addresses on my phone where I can find dead voices.

With Elena Obraztsova and Anna Netrebko.

“What should I be offended by? Am I underestimated?"

Have you ever thought that opera is not at all a “art form”, as the encyclopedia tells us about it, but something completely different - in its essence and significance? Well, in light of what we talked about earlier... that is, kind of like entertainment, but on the other hand, a cosmic phenomenon.

Absolutely different. Because music is information, it is a vibration of some divine origin. Anywhere in the world, people who speak different languages, listening to the same music, will cry, freeze, smile in the same places; that is, music is a language that everyone understands, and in the same way. Another thing is that there are people who do not deserve to understand it. Or they haven't been given it yet.

- That is, God chooses not only the artists, but also the audience?

Certainly. This is the meaning of theater and any art - to make the choice of the audience, to surround yourself with those who are close to you. This is already a relationship - when we, "Helikon", need our viewer, and this viewer needs us.

By the way, in the light of this audience love: was it not tempting to take it and feel great by the age of 50? "I'm great" and that's it.

Well, this is the time. Until I had time to think about it. And if you think about it, you take a step back, you move away from what you should be doing. Why should I go bronze? And why should I be offended? I've been underestimated, haven't I? On the contrary, I always have a complex: I may not be worthy of what I have. Therefore, I always sincerely thank those who helped me, I understand that they made an advance payment to me and that they cannot be let down. This also applies to my teachers, and those who have helped and continue to help make the theater. Therefore, when they scold me - Bertman again praised the mayor, they say, licking - I have a feeling of resentment and resistance inside me, because I am sincere here: how can you not talk about the person who made you happy? Together with the theater, I went through all the authorities, starting with Gorbachev, and all the people on whom the progress of my life's work depended, they always helped and help, because they saw the result. In all my life I have never given anyone a bribe, not once has anyone asked me for it. I have never encountered the concept of corruption. That's why I say I'm happy.

- But can you sometimes - like an artistic director - turn on a dictator?

I have two roles. As according to Chaliapin: two people should live in an artist - this is an artist and a controller. As a leader, I take responsibility - for the actors, for their lives. I take on all the problems, I try to solve them, I do not expect a miracle. Therefore, for my artists, I am the head of the family. We have great confidence. I know a lot of things about them that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I try to help them so that they achieve some results with less losses for themselves. I am rarely tough - in moments of disobedience, when there can be no other way. But, I repeat, this very rarely happens, because selection into our family is very important for me. If someone does not do something, I attribute these problems to myself - it means that I brought them up badly.

- Do you linger in the theater?

Until late at night. And I don’t stay alone, because we have a full theater for crazy people like me. Leaving at two in the morning, you can still hear a singing voice outside the classroom door - someone is studying. And the watchman and the security guard, seeing me off, tell me how this or that artist sang today, give their critical assessment. Together with us they come to drink this “elixir of happiness”. As well as cleaning ladies who have been working for 25 years, with whom I have been on “you” for a long time. In the theater, in principle, people do not work for the sake of money, it's like a church - they serve here.

Have you ever thought about quitting everything?

This is impossible. No, it's unrealistic. Yes, when there was a struggle for this building, I was physically scared - there were threats, there was an attack - and at the same time I got good offers from different countries: they say, leave for us. But the family is here, how can you quit? I understood a long time ago: if there are any difficulties, then the biggest catharsis is from their solution.

- And at what age do you feel?

Maybe I'm falling into insanity, but now I feel younger. Although when I was young, I felt older. Listen, when I graduated from GITIS at the age of 21, I began to come to theaters, go out and say “let's rehearse” - they looked at me with round eyes: “What is this? Is this the director? Therefore, I had to somehow “age” myself: I had to wear suits, trousers with arrows, ties. And now everything has gone the other way: I'm more interested with young people, I want to look at the world through their eyes and finally I can walk in jeans ... Look at the artists - my peers. They look thirty. Well preserved. And why? Because we have such an atmosphere - there is no anger, people remain young, they all took the Makropulos remedy. That's how we live.

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Dmitry Bertman is a native of Moscow and was born October 31st in 1967. The very first performance of the future talent that was watched was a fairy tale staged by the Moscow Youth Theater and at that time he was only 2.5 years old.

The basis of the craving for art was invested in Dmitry by his mother, seeing his theatrical performances and musical concerts. They constantly visited the halls of the conservatory, where Richter's performances took place, and after a short period of time, the young talent independently showed interest in the work of such famous women as Elena Obraztsova and Nina Arkhipova.

Dmitry Bertman enthusiastically watched the stages of their career development and interesting creative activities.

How the profession was chosen

After the maestro graduated from school, Dmitry Bertman made a firm decision that his life would be connected with art. After some thought, in early 1984 he became a student of GITIS them. Lunacharsky. He did not regret his choice.

It was there that the young man began to study as a musical theater director. When Dmitry, who cannot imagine his life without creativity, receives the desired diploma, he is already the creator of several musical and dramatic works that were staged in small metropolitan theaters. An active young man stepped onto the path leading to success and fame.

Bertman's main achievement is precisely Odessa theater, and he still remembers with pleasure his first rehearsals in the temple, as it was called, Melpomene. Nearly a hundred people gathered on the stage with enthusiasm, each of them representing a special significance for the choir.

Creation of Helikon

It is worth noting that the director did not set himself such a goal as the creation of a theater, but once, together with GITIS graduates. Dmitry Bertman staged several performances, and then considered that a strong alliance had developed, which it would be completely unreasonable to break. The guys continued to work, putting into it new ideas that attract the viewer.

Far from the last role was for those who were his colleagues, with whom they often gathered at the end of the performance for food and drink. Several successful and fruitful works have brought considerable benefits and the only question left was what name to give this alliance.

At the suggestion of one of the artists, we decided to use the dictionary in which we found the word Helikon.

It was the name of the mountain located in Ancient Greece where, long ago, the god Apollo spent long hours with his muses.

Family and awards

When communicating with Dmitry, the question often arises about his personal life, which stands there, behind the scenes of the theater:

• whether there is a wife;
• what are the names of the children;
• do they have a dog.

In fact, Bertman does not have this, and his main family is the theater, it completely filled his life.

As for the merits of the maestro, they were celebrated both in Russia and abroad, and having created an exclusive theater, he became an honorary worker of art, assigned to him by Boris Yeltsin. Bertman received a prestigious award, initiated by French President Jacques Chirac.

He was awarded an order called academic palm, personifying a talented person throughout French territory.

In the country of fashion, the repertoire of theatrical performances is gradually expanding, Dmitry goes there with his tours and gathers a large audience of spectators.

Bertman is a person who has a lot of his own hobbies, hidden from prying eyes, and one of them is classical music. Some of his favorite composers include:

• Mozart;
• Tchaikovsky.

The second most popular hobby among his hobbies is the absorption of fiction.

At the director's own extensive library, and he also has a great weakness for antique objects and paintings created by the hands of the most famous artists.

His home contains items such as a rare watch he bought in Switzerland when he was on tour. at the Royal Opera as well as a large floor clock made in dark color. They are identical to those that were placed on stage as scenery for the performance. Queen of Spades.

About participation in projects on television

Dmitry began to take part in various TV programs in order to try to bring people and art closer together. It's about about Grand Opera, competition for young vocalists, which has been broadcast by the Culture channel for a long time.

Artist Recognized honorary member of the jury. There was an opinion that the competition would not gain high ratings, but the assumptions are not justified. Thanks to the project, many talented people were discovered. According to Bertman, this program is important, necessary and will rise to the very top of the popularity ratings.

The artistic director of "Helikon-Opera" Dmitry Bertman was not broken by years of need or contract attacks, and his theater, which opened its second season in a restored building, became a pearl of Moscow's cultural life.

Creator and permanent artistic director of the Helikon-Opera Moscow Musical Theatre, People's Artist of the Russian Federation Dmitry Bertman told how he entered theaters as a schoolboy, and in the 90s worked for free with his friends, how he used cardboard for scenery, which he collected on the street, and twice became a victim of custom-made attacks - he was forced to abandon the Shakhovsky estate, which now houses the Helikon-Opera.

And also about what mystical things are happening in this old building.

Culture can do more than politics

— Dmitry Alexandrovich, first of all, I would like to ask you how you evaluate the exchange tours of the musical theater “Helikon” and the Estonian National Opera that took place in Moscow and Tallinn?

The tours were amazing. We played twice on the stage of the Estonian National Opera "The Tsar's Bride", there was a wonderful concert with Estonian singers. And in Moscow, we warmly welcomed the Estonians: all navigation was written in Estonian, for them it was a surprise.

The entire theater was stocked with chocolate, tea, coffee to make them feel at home. And they played on the stage of "Helikon-Opera" the opera "Faust" and the ballet "Goblin". The concert was also a huge success. These tours confirmed that there are no problems in the cultural sphere and that culture can do much more than politics.

We hope that our friendship will continue and the tours of the Estonian National Opera in Moscow will become regular, as it was once upon a time in the Soviet Union.

I chose the profession thanks to Baba Yaga ... Uncle Volodya

- You experienced the first shock from the theater at the age of four, when your parents took you backstage after the play “The Bunny and the Three Little Pigs” and you saw Baba Yaga there, who took off her wig and ... turned out to be my father’s friend Uncle Volodya. Did this story determine the future for you?

I was in shock - it didn’t fit in my head that this could be. But yes - it was after this that the theater became the main thing in my life.

And then music - piano education, concerts in the Great Hall of the Conservatory, to which my mother took me several times a week. So I was led towards the opera.

- And when did you realize that it was opera, and not theater, that was closer to you?

In the fourth or fifth grade. It seems to me that opera is much more interesting than drama theatre. In the opera there is always a celebration, a holiday - beautiful costumes, huge scenery, crowd stages, an orchestra, a choir and singing artists. It impressed me a lot. And in the drama theater, unfortunately, there is always a lack of music and singing.

- What theaters did you go to - the Bolshoi, probably?

The Bolshoi Theater was less accessible to me, it was more difficult to sneak in.

— Sneak?

Actually, I knew all the loopholes. Let's say, I went to the Musical Theater of Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko by deceitful ways, through the service entrance, hid in the box and from there secretly watched the rehearsals. And he knew the entire repertoire and each artist.

But it was more difficult to get into the Bolshoi Theater - they simply wouldn’t let me go there because of my height. When I grew up, I got the hang of entering through the actor's entrances - the first or fifth.

It was necessary to guess that someone would go in a group and join them. And then, in the building, I was perfectly oriented.

Or he acted differently - he bought the cheapest ticket for a gallery in any theater and waited for a free seat in the stalls. Or, as in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, I also bought a ticket to the gallery for 30-50 kopecks, then went to the banquet hall - went up there on the escalator, ate delicious julienne there, drank a glass of Tarragon, went to the kitchen, quickly passed through it, got on the elevator and went down to the stage ...

I entered GITIS by accident. Twice…

– On the stage? For what?

It was interesting for me to watch from the inside how the performance was going on, how the artists were coming out, what was happening on the other side of the wings ... I was generally curious. Therefore, I entered GITIS as a schoolboy, when I was only 15 years old.

Then, when a year later I began to study at this institute, I avoided the teacher, who constantly reminded me of this.

— How did it happen?

The son of my father's school friend came to Moscow to enter the acting department. I took him to GITIS, and he told me: “Come with me to the exam.” I knew some poems and also went to the acting department. And there, for the first two rounds, documents are not needed. Here I went through them.

Then the GITIS professor Oscar Yakovlevich Remez called me and said:

“You read the wrong program, I need fools, and you are just a fool by role, you should have read some kind of stupid program, and not Mandelstam. But it doesn’t matter - if you definitely don’t enter another theatrical university, I take you one hundred percent.

“I’m definitely not going anywhere, I haven’t finished school yet. Only in a year there will be a certificate”.

The professor kicked me out with a bang. But when I entered a year later, I was no longer reading Mandelstam, but The Little Humpbacked Horse about Ivan the Fool. It turns out that thanks to this impudence, I received valuable advice - Remez directed me, explained that I did not need to read any serious poetry.

Decoration material had to be stolen

- Your career is generally solid accidents and paradoxes. You also did not plan to create the Helikon Theater, but decided to help your classmates.

Yes, there was no purpose. We had a great company - Tanya Monogarova, Sergey Yakovlev, Sveta Kulikova, Katya Melnikova and Renata Ginzburg. And you need to understand that this is the 90th year, everything is destroyed, in Moscow it is dangerous to just walk the streets.

We studied together for five years, but no one needs us. So they kept this small group, they decided to stage operas, but everything that could be thought up for five was already staged at the beginning of the 20th century and was not popular.

- Are these the very first productions that seemed interesting to the viewer only at the very beginning, and then the hall was empty?

Yes, the first two operas interested the viewer, and then they stopped going to us. Nobody knew about us, there were no posters - we ourselves wrote in ink on the sheets of the announcement and glued them around Moscow. And the material for the scenery was completely ... stolen.

At that time, computers had just begun to be delivered to Moscow, the boxes from under them were huge and ideally suited for us. But these boxes are now considered garbage, but then they didn’t throw them away, and they had to be hunted for. So we went with the whole company, like some kind of Timurovites, and dragged them.

Performance for two

— When you saw that the audience stopped going to your theatre, didn’t you want to drop everything and close Helikon?

Thoughts such, of course, attended. Especially once, when it was necessary to start, and there was not a single person in the hall. We have already lowered our hands and suddenly we hear the clatter of feet behind the doors, two people entered the hall. They began to play for them.

And it turned out that these were the great Svyatoslav Richter and Nina Dorliak. On the way from the conservatory they saw our poster and looked in. Then we were upset, but now we understand what happiness it was to play a performance for Richter and Dorliak. Then they started visiting us all the time. But once we played just for the two of them.

- And what did you live on?

Yes, no matter what - for us, twenty-year-olds, it was like a circle, and our parents fed us. The tickets were still on sale though. And the first money was earned when we were invited to a festival in the German city of Ingolstadt.

This Bavarian city was twinned with the Krasnopresnensky district of Moscow, it hosted a flower festival and exhibition. And one of the organizers of the festival from the Russian side decided that Mozart's opera "Apollo and Hyacinth", which we staged, is just about flowers. And she's not talking about it at all, but I said that's right.

We quickly changed everything, as if the opera was really about flowers, and went to Ingolstadt. Firstly, we were paid a little for the performance, and secondly, we bought a rusty, intermittent Opel Senator for a thousand marks at a gas station.

With Vadik Zaplechny - our soloist, now Honored Artist of Russia - they took him to Moscow and sold him for 5 thousand dollars. And we used this money for salaries and other needs. It was just a huge amount at the time.

Rostropovich folder

- You once admitted that there was nothing to pay the musicians and they came only two hours before the performance and read everything from the sheet.

Yes, we worked for free, but we didn't have an orchestra. And it was necessary to hire musicians - five people, a quintet, and pay them, but there was very little money. Therefore, they read from the sight, without rehearsal, the performance was bad, and the critics scolded us very much. Although the musicians themselves were good, Bolshoi Theater came to hang out with us.

And then it became fashionable to scold us. I have a folder called “Shit” (points to a closet) - this is a collection of negative articles in the press. Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich advised me to start it. Moreover, he himself named it, chose, as he said, “a thinner color” and pasted the name on the spine of the folder. Said:

“Don't worry, you should start a folder and build a collection. Then you will look forward to every bad article about yourself and the theater to add to your collection.”

Mstislav Leopoldovich was right - I still collect.

Everyone said - leave, but I stayed

— Musical theater “Helikon-Opera” is already 26 years old. Didn't you want to drop everything and leave during this time?

I wanted to, of course. Especially when, four years after the start of activity, working in this narrow circle, we realized that we were tired of each other. Five years of study at the institute, plus four more - already nine turns out. Even in families, when two people live, they don’t go anywhere much, they only communicate with each other, friction begins. This is where we started to get irritated more and more. And then new people began to come to us, and everything was resolved.

But the most terrible moment in my career was when this struggle for land and the Shakhovsky estate began. There were already life-threatening things here. We left the theater on Bolshaya Nikitskaya, repairs began there, and they began to put pressure on me, forcing me to abandon the building, and then there were attacks at all ...

- Were you attacked? Who?

Yes, there was a real war. Such a campaign was invented that we are destroying a heritage, a monument of architecture. On all television channels we were slinged with mud.

By the way, I was recently shown the documents, and now I know to whom this building has already been guaranteed. It became clear how it was done. But then everything was very hard, disgusting. And I was attacked twice. After the first one, I had a concussion, and I was also stabbed with a knife. But it worked out...

And during the second attack, everything was even tougher - at two in the morning at the entrance to my house, bandits with machine guns caught me and, holding me at gunpoint, demanded that I write a paper that the theater didn’t need anything, that we live great on Novy Arbat and I refuse new premises.

And how did you manage to change the situation?

I had a direct conversation with them. He simply said that if this were my private theater, if it was private land, then I could give up everything. And so - I can sign anything, but what's next? The theater is state. And although they were only performers, they heard me.

- I can not even imagine…

Mentally, it was very difficult, of course. And in parallel, I began to develop a career abroad. And, of course, I had interesting offers. Until now, many people consider me an idiot, because I refused to become the artistic director of the Canadian National Opera, the Royal Swedish Opera ... And in these countries this was already written in all the newspapers.

"And why did you stay?" What stopped - is it really love for the motherland?

Love for Tchaikovsky, Pushkin, Pokrovsky, Vishnevskaya, Rostropovich, for the Helikon team, for the audience. These are the people who surrounded me, believed, helped, allowed me close to them. And then bam ... How will I be without them? I felt that I would become a traitor if I left.

Although there, abroad, there were excellent conditions: I would not be engaged in any construction projects, I would receive very big money just for creative work and would do only what I like. I would even have free time!

And, of course, I was stopped by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who turned the whole situation upside down, believed in our theater and took personal control of our reconstruction, fulfilled more than his promises. Now we have the most beautiful and technological theater building in Moscow!

The portrait of the princess saved from flooding

— The building of “Helikon-Opera” was built several centuries ago, and, they say, mystical things happen in it. Here is a portrait of the owner of this estate, Princess Shakhovskaya, which hangs in your wardrobe, as if it saved the theater from flooding.

Princess Evgenia Feodorovna is our friend. Previously, the building had no foundation at all, and the largest and most modern hall “Stravinsky” was built from scratch, on the site of the courtyard. To do this, we had to go deeper by 30 meters. And below us flows the Volkhonka River.

We were built by three different contractors. And one of them, who is now on the wanted list, did something wrong at the site of the pit. And when the last contractor finished everything, and he was absolutely amazing, in the spectator part, where the wardrobe is located, cracks began to appear in the walls and water began to seep. The builders all the time “healed” the walls, made all sorts of injections, but sooner or later the water appeared again.

And we had a portrait of Princess Shakhovskaya, which we ordered from the artist Anatoly Nezhny before the reconstruction. It hung in the foyer on the second floor, but after the reconstruction, when the interiors of the 19th century were restored there, it did not fit in there. And so I say: let's hang the picture below, and the princess will meet all the spectators. They hung it up, and the water immediately stopped oozing. A year has passed, and everything is still dry.

“They also talk about a black cat that came to the theater on its own when, after the reconstruction, the building got rats.

Also very misterious story. Rats have become a real scourge of the theater - they numbered in the hundreds. It was impossible to poison them with chemicals - they would have crammed into the ventilation systems and would have violated everything. Then we got cats, but they did nothing. And suddenly a black cat appeared from somewhere, which began to catch rats so actively that they immediately disappeared.

Moreover, she seems to be cloned - more than once she was seen simultaneously in different parts of the theater. Many believe that this is Princess Shakhovskaya. After all, she goes out to bow along with the artists ...

“Some kind of mystic…

This building has a great history. Here Catherine II drank tea with the first mistress of the house, Princess Dashkova. Pushkin and Tchaikovsky have been here. Princess Shakhovskaya herself arranged performances and concerts. There were performances of Zimin's opera, Chaliapin sang seven roles ...

So - before the reconstruction, the watchmen told me that they often heard some steps in the silence. And once the guard said that at night someone locked himself in one of the halls and began to play the piano. When the door was opened, no one was there...

We work non-stop

- If you leave the mysticism and return to reality - what is Helikon working on now, what can the viewer expect in the new season?

Right now we have a huge amount of work in progress. From the performances in January, the opera "Turandot" by Puccini with Vladimir Ivanovich Fedoseev, then there will be "Il trovatore" by Verdi,

Kirill Serebrennikov is staging the opera Chadsky by contemporary author Alexander Manotskov, our director Ilya Ilyin will stage The Seven Deadly Sins to music by Kurt Weill. A huge program of new performances plus a huge number of concert projects.

We work non-stop, like in a real factory.

Dmitry Bertman awards

People's Artist of Russia (2005)

17.09.2018

Bertman Dmitry Alexandrovich

Russian director

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Dmitry Bertman was born on October 31, 1967 in Moscow. In 1984, at the age of 16, he entered the GITIS named after Lunacharsky, on the course of Professor Ansimov, where he received the specialty of a musical theater director. While still a student, he staged a number of musical and dramatic performances in professional theaters in Moscow, Tver, and Odessa. The staging of Renato Raschel's musical "Turtle Day, or Marital Idyll" in 1988 at the Tver Regional Drama Theater became his graduation work.

In 1990, Bertman created the musical theater "Helikon-Opera" in Moscow, which in 1993 received the status of a state theater. The new team quickly moved into the ranks of the largest opera theaters in Russia, staged operas of the 18th-20th centuries, from the most popular to rarely performed, as well as operettas and musicals. Currently, the theater tours a lot in Russia and abroad and is one of the most sought-after Russian opera companies.

Since 1994 Bertman has been teaching at the Bern Opera Studio. Conducts master classes at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Since 1996, he has been the artistic director of the workshop, and since 2003, he has been the head of the department of directing and skill of a musical theater actor at the Russian Academy of Theater Arts.

In October 2008, Bertman was awarded the title of professor. In March 2016, the long-awaited premiere of Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress staged by Dmitry Bertman took place on the stage of the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki.

On April 25, 2016, at the "Helikon-Opera" Theater, with the participation of the First theatrical award "Crystal Turandot", a new international cultural project "League of Maestri" was held. The solemn ceremony was dedicated to the opera diva Maria Guleghina. Concert "Vivat, Maria!" merged into main stage"Helikon-Opera" soloists of the theater and dramatic actors - laureates and nominees of the First theatrical award "Crystal Turandot".

On the stage of the theater "Helikon-Opera" on January 28, 2017, the premiere of Giacomo Puccini's opera "Turandot" staged by Dmitry Bertman took place. Together with the artistic director of the theater, the outstanding conductor, People's Artist of the USSR Fedoseyev, Canadian production designer Kamelia Kuu and American lighting designer Thomas Haze worked on the performance.

In 2017, the Musik&Theater MUTH, Vienna, Austria hosted the premiere of G. F. Handel's opera Alcina. In June 2017, the premiere of the opera Il trovatore by G. Verdi took place on the stage of the Helikon-Opera, and already in December, The Queen of Spades by P. Tchaikovsky.

In the spring of 2018, the long-awaited premiere of Rubinstein's opera The Demon on the stage of the Grand Theater Liceo in Barcelona. Joint production of the Liceo Theater and the Helkion Opera. In the summer of 2018, the Moscow public was presented with the opera by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov "The Golden Cockerel". The performance is a joint production with the German Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

Dmitry Bertman awards

Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (1998)

People's Artist of Russia (2005)

Order of Friendship - for merits in the development of national culture and art, many years of fruitful activity

International Prize of K. S. Stanislavsky (2005) in the nomination "Director's Art" - for his contribution to the development of opera directing

Award "Golden Mask" in the nomination "Best director of musical theater"
1997 - for the play "Carmen" for the play "The Tsar's Bride"
2000 - for the play "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District"

Prize of the Moscow Opera Festival for the 400th anniversary of the opera (2000) in the nomination "Best Director" - for "The Tales of Hoffmann"

Order of Academic Palms (officer degree, 2003, France) - for services in the field of culture and art

Maltese cross and title of Count of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of Rhodes and Malta Ecumenical (2003) - for his contribution to the development of world culture

At the end of 2005, Dmitry Bertman became the laureate of the Prize. K. S. Stanislavsky in the nomination "Director's art" for his contribution to the development of opera directing.

In 2005, by decree of the President of Russia, Dmitry Bertman was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia

In 2007, Dmitry Bertman, artistic director of Helikon-Opera, was awarded the Moscow City Prize for staging performances in the 2004-2006 season and a significant contribution to musical culture Moscow.

On February 23, 2008, the President of the Republic of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, awarded Dmitry Bertman the Order of the Land of St. Mary (Maarjamaa Cross) IV degree for staging the anti-fascist opera Wallenberg by Erkki-Sven Tüir at the Estonia Theater in Tallinn.

In 2017, Dmitry Bertman was awarded the honorary title "Academician, Full Member of the Russian Academy of Arts" for his outstanding contribution to the development of Russian culture and art.

On September 21, 2017, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin signed a Decree on awarding Dmitry Bertman with the Badge of Distinction "For Irreproachable Service to the City of Moscow".

Order of Honor (May 3, 2018) - for a great contribution to the development of national culture and art, many years of fruitful activity.

Dmitry Alexandrovich BERTMAN was born in Moscow. In 1984 he entered GITIS them. Lunacharsky (now the Russian Academy of Theater Arts) to the Faculty of Musical Theater, specialty: director of musical theater for the course of the People's Artist of the USSR, Professor G.P. Ansimov. While studying at GITIS, D. A. Bertman began his creative activity, staging performances in Moscow, Tver, Odessa in professional theaters. In 1990, twenty-three-year-old D. A. Bertman organized a new Moscow Opera House - "Helikon-Opera", which since 1993 becomes the State. The theater is becoming popular in Moscow, often touring the country and abroad. Many works were staged by Dmitry Bertman for the first time both in our country and in the world. The performances staged by Dmitry Bertman are successfully staged on international festivals(“Mermaid” - Wexford Opera Festival (Ireland) 1997; “Everyone does it this way ...” - Ludwigsburg (Germany) 1999; “The Bat” with M. Rostropovich - Evian (France) 2000; “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” - Festival in Santander (Spain) 2001; "Aida" - Verdi Festival in Strasbourg (France) 2001; "Tales of Hoffmann", "Lulu" - Festival in Santander (Spain) (2002); "Tales of Hoffmann", "Lulu" - Festival in Perelade (Spain) (2002); on the prestigious stages of the world: Salzburg Festspilhouse Qween Elisabeth Hall (London), Theater Shans Elisse (Paris), Montpellier Opera Berlioz. From 1994 to the present, Dmitry Bertman conducts a master class at the Bern Opera Studio (Switzerland). ), where he teaches for future opera singers theater technique Stanislavsky, M. Chekhov, F. Chaliapin. He also conducts a master class at the Moscow State Conservatory.

Since 1996, he has been the artistic director of the musical theater directing course at the Lunacharsky Russian Academy of Theatrical Art. In 2001, its first release took place. Currently, Dmitry Alexandrovich is the artistic director of the course of actors and directors of the RATI musical theater.

In 1998 Dmitry was awarded the title of Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation. Four times winner of the Golden Mask National Prize in the nomination "Best Director of Musical Theater" ("Carmen" 1997, "The Tsar's Bride" 1998, "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" 2000). The theater under the leadership of Bertman was awarded the Golden Mask National Prize in the nomination " Best Performance in Opera" ("Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District" 2000), in the nomination "Innovation" ("Voices of the Invisible" 1999), in the nomination "Best Opera Actress" (Natalya Zagorinskaya "Carmen" 1997, Anna Kazakova "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District" 2000 ), in the nomination "Best Conductor in Opera" (Vladimir Ponkin "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" 2000), in the nomination "Best Conductor in Opera" (Vladimir Ponkin "Lulu" 2002). In 2000, the Helikon Theater became the Laureate of the Moscow Opera Festival for the 400th anniversary of the opera in the Best Performance nomination, and Dmitry Bertman became the Laureate in the Best Director nomination (The Tales of Hoffmann).

Since 2000, Dmitry Bertman has been the chief director of the "Stars of the World for Children" campaign, carried out jointly with Montserrat Caballe.

Since 2003, Dmitry Bertman - head. department musical theater RATI, professor, associate professor (academic title)

In 2003, Dmitry Bertman was awarded the French National Order of Academic Palms with the rank of Officer for his contribution to the development of art and culture.

In December 2003 he was awarded the Order of Malta for his contribution to the development of world culture "The Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the Ecumenical Knights of Rhodes and Malta." Simultaneously with the order, Dmitry Bertman was granted the title of "conde" - that is, "count".